...expanding on posts from last fall, like this one.
Good works has been a perennially-volatile topic in all my run-ins with Lutheran friends. Do not bring up the third use of the law, because sparks start flying. Shots fired: We Calvinists are dangerously close to works-righteousness, and the Lutherans dance with antinomianism. Oh, it's fun. So, all in all, I've been considering the Reformed theology of sanctification a lot since I've been here.
In the midst of some random blogosphere reading, I came across a reference to Ephesians 2:10:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
There it hit me. The reason good works are so important in the life of a Christian is even deeper than the conclusion I arrived at last fall. They are what we were created to do. When we sin, we are exhibiting pride, offending God, displaying our ungratefulness, and also simply doing something unnatural.
We need to devote ourselves to good works because in doing so, we are finally functioning in the capacity God intended us to behave. In this way, we glorify Him in His plan of creation. On a more selfish level, this is the only path to satisfaction and fulfilment in our lives.
When we downplay the third use of the law, we are jeopardizing our chance to realize this. This is why obedience to the law is beautiful: Not only does it glorify God, it also makes our lives better.
We need to devote ourselves to good works because in doing so, we are finally functioning in the capacity God intended us to behave. In this way, we glorify Him in His plan of creation. On a more selfish level, this is the only path to satisfaction and fulfilment in our lives.
When we downplay the third use of the law, we are jeopardizing our chance to realize this. This is why obedience to the law is beautiful: Not only does it glorify God, it also makes our lives better.
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